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Norwegian’s plans to increase the number of routes it flies from the UK to Asia are being frustrated by a political spat between Downing Street and the Kremlin.

The airline’s chief executive Bjorn Kjos said his company already ran the world’s longest low-cost route from London to Singapore as well as flying customers to Thailand. But moves to add Asian destinations such as Tokyo, Shanghai and Beijing were being stymied by Russia refusing to grant it permission to fly across its airspace.

“We need permission to fly over the Siberian corridor because this gives us the most efficient and direct routing across Russia to the Far East,” Mr Kjos said.